music >> He's threatening that if we went forward, which we may at a point in time that I may be arrested.

[MUSIC] >> Republicans take a swing at the courts.

Democrats say this is dangerous for democracy.

[MUSIC] >> I am extraordinarily disappointed.

[MUSIC] >> What Democrats say are the big misses from this year's legislative session.

[MUSIC] And sports fans, we have some news you'll flip over.

[MUSIC] Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC] Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for this Thursday, April 16th.

I'm Christie Dutton in our KET Louisville Studios filling in for Renee Shaw.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Well, the Kentucky General Assembly's 2026 session is over, but a Lexington judge's fight to keep her seat on the bench has now become the subtext to a constitutional crisis.

That's what some lawmakers call the argument that's come from the impeachment of Lexington Judge Julie Smith Goodman.

As our June Leffler reports, state lawmakers and Supreme Court justices have accused each other of overstepping their authority and even intimidating each other.

>> Last night, a reporter asked the Senate president if Kentucky is facing a constitutional crisis.

>> With their interpretation.

>> I think they created a constitutional crisis because, again, read the statute.

>> They being the Kentucky Supreme Court.

On the final day of the legislative session, both chambers voted to censure Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson.

The state's highest court ruled that lawmakers have no say in whether Judge Julie Goodman can keep her job, and an opinion from Justice Thompson chastised lawmakers if they continue.

>> He has the right, I guess, by this opinion and the Supreme Court to disbar me for doing what is our constitutional duty.

What's worse, he's threatening that if we went forward, which we may at a point in time that I may be arrested, a class D felony.

>> Yesterday, the Senate halted a trial against Goodman awaiting a separate judicial conduct review.

But lawmakers say they have the authority to impeach and will do so as needed.

>> In fact.

>> In section 109, it says that the impeachment power is inviolate, inviolate people.

That's what our Constitution says, and no one, not even the Kentucky Supreme Court, can change that.

>> Democrats disagree and say disregarding the Supreme Court's ruling is dangerous.

>> That is the collapse of our democratic institutions.

That is the collapse of the rule of law.

That is a collapse of everything that we hold sacred and special about what it means to be an American, and what it means to live in a democracy, and what it means to live in the great commonwealth of Kentucky.

>> The fate of Judge Goodman and this crisis lies with the Judicial Conduct Commission, which reviews complaints against judges.

The Senate says it will wait on the JCC to potentially reprimand or remove Goodman for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Kentucky Public Radio reports that justice Kelly Thompson was, quote, shocked and honored to be censured publicly by both Chambers well, for thousands of Kentuckians looking for a place to live, the options are limited and the costs are rising.

Research shows that Kentucky needs more than 200,000 housing units to meet demand.

State lawmakers have been wrestling with solutions for several months, and there was optimism that they'd adopt new policies to help ease the shortage this session.

But in the end, it was an impasse on addressing short term rentals that unraveled the deal, housing regulations and eviction protections were part of an evolving Senate Bill nine that seemed to have consensus.

But the addition of how short term rentals like Airbnb should be regulated turned out to be the deal breaker, according to Senate President Robert Stivers.

>> The last portion of the Airbnbs and how it is dealt with the taxation component, the individual rights opponents, the impact on the housing market, alternative housing to to hotels, motels, the support it gives to the tourism industry, where it's to be taxed, how it's to be taxed, who's to be the taxing entity, makes it a really tough issue to deal with.

And that's what became a real sticking point in that bill.

>> The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is part of a coalition of groups who worked on the housing issue, president and CEO Ashley Watts told KET, quote, housing remains a critical issue for Kentucky's economic growth and competitiveness.

We strongly supported Senate Bill nine as a meaningful step toward expanding housing supply and addressing rising costs.

While more work remains, we are committed to maintaining momentum to support working families, businesses and communities, Kayla Brown, CEO of the conservative leaning Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, says this on its website.

Quote, Kentucky lawmakers couldn't get the job done, and that failure carries real consequences for young people across our Commonwealth.

Every year without reform is another year that home prices climb faster than wages, another year that young families from Kentucky, from Lexington or Bowling Green begin looking to other states to meet their housing needs.

End quote.

Well, how do Democrats feel about the outcome of this year's legislative session?

Our Mackenzie Spink was back in Frankfurt today to hear from party leaders about what they view as accomplishments and missed opportunities.

>> I am extraordinarily, like so many Kentuckians, waking up the day after this legislative session ended, very disappointed in the actions of the Senate majority and the House majority.

>> Kentucky Democrats say the state budget passed by the General Assembly misses the mark in a big way, especially when it comes to funding Medicaid.

Critics say the state failed to adequately make the program whole after the reductions from the federal level, and predict that rural hospitals will suffer and possibly close.

>> When you take into account the federal match that we're going to lose, that loss is going to come to close to $2 billion.

>> As a single digit bill.

Senate Bill nine was considered a priority measure.

It aimed to ease the state's housing crisis through incentives for manufacturers.

However, the Republican sponsored bill failed to pass.

>> I'm going to tell you what the big the biggest missed opportunity was, was affordable housing.

On the last day, we kept waiting for a bill that was going to provide that affordable housing.

But instead, my Republican counterparts were debating whether they wanted to add Airbnbs to your community, which everyone knows is the root of destruction, deterioration in your community.

That's what they were debating.

We talk about affordable housing, but we couldn't get the job done.

>> Democrats are also not happy with the lack of teacher raises or movement on universal pre-K, an issue Governor Andy Beshear has championed since he came into office.

>> Kentucky ranks, I think its 48th amongst starting teacher pay.

I mean, I got to start there for a missed opportunity.

If we want to recruit the best teachers or keep the best teachers, then we need to actually act like it and show up with our checkbook here.

>> Half the states in this country have some form of universal pre-K.

Five of the seven around us have some form of universal pre-K.

Now, it varies in methodology, but they have some form of pre-K.

Kentucky is in that bottom half.

>> Representative Moore says House Democrats have legislation to be proud of, and that the minorities work on improving the budget mattered, despite their small numbers.

>> We've led efforts to make our communities safer by cracking down on illegal street racing.

We passed legislation to grow the next generation of Kentucky farmers, including in our urban communities, because agriculture is not just a part of our past, it also has to continue to be a part of Kentucky's future.

And I was proud to help improve a bill that will mean that Kentuckians leaving incarceration had access to outpatient psychiatric care, because treatment shouldn't just mean being locked up.

It should mean actually getting the care that you need.

>> Kentucky Democrat's are now looking ahead to this year's election cycle.

>> Everything that we did was with just 20 members in the House, 20 members made bad bills better, 20 members improved the state budget, 20 members passed meaningful legislation that will make a difference in people's lives.

So just imagine what we can do when we send more Democrat's to the Kentucky House.

>> Kentucky's primary election is May 19th.

The voter registration deadline is April 20th for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Makenzie Spink.

>> Representative.

Moore says legislation on data centers was another missed opportunity.

This session.

House Bill 593, which aimed to protect ratepayers from taking on the energy costs of data centers, passed the House but then died in the Senate.

A General Assembly wants universities to find ways to produce more medical students, saying if doctors study here in Kentucky, they're more likely to stay in Kentucky.

A 2025 American Medical Association report says 59% of American physicians continue to practice in the state where they completed their residency.

One Corbin lawmaker suggests there's untapped talent in rural Kentucky.

>> Over the years, I've had a lot of contacts from young people in my area who had a desire to go to medical school.

They never made it.

They weren't accepted.

What I'd like to encourage our universities to do is instead of emphasizing on getting so many from out of state, the percentage is to take care of our own first.

>> Senate Joint Resolution 116 directs the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville, which both have medical schools, and Eastern Kentucky University, which is forming a College of Osteopathic Medicine.

To study the issue.

The Kentucky Hospital Association says it's eager to collaborate on the report as well, which will come out at the end of this year.

Well, it looks like a statue of U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell is on the way to the state Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort.

A bill passed by the General Assembly includes language that authorizes that statue if it's paid for with private money.

Senator McConnell says it is a life long.

He is a lifelong admirer of Henry Clay, and.

The rotunda also has a statue of Clay, the longtime U.S.

senator from Kentucky who also served as secretary of state and U.S.

speaker of the House.

McConnell said this in a statement, quote, to be mentioned in the same breath as this monumental Kentuckian is a thrill that my younger self could have found difficult to wrap his head around.

So, upon learning of the General Assembly's action, mere thanks are an understatement.

To stand beside Henry Clay in the rotunda of the state Capitol is truly the honor of a lifetime.

End quote.

Governor Andy Beshear vetoed the McConnell statue provision, but lawmakers overrode that veto.

>> Time now for our reporter's notebook segment.

I'm Emily Sisk, and I'm here with Taylor, six of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

And we're here to talk about a lengthy report on addiction recovery care.

It's a drug rehabilitation center here in Kentucky.

And there are some allegations of fraudulent billing.

So, Taylor, just to open us up, tell me, you know, what is addiction recovery care and how prevalent is it in the realm of drug rehabilitation in the state?

>> Yeah.

Hi, thanks so much for having me.

I'm really glad to be on.

So addiction recovery care started in Louisa in Eastern Kentucky in 2010 with their first center, Karen's place.

And that was really at the height of the heroin epidemic, ongoing drug epidemic in Kentucky.

And they have grown steadily since that time.

But they became Kentucky's largest rehabilitation center with at 1.40 centers, 40 plus centers across the state.

And looking into our border states to expand their coverage area.

They really became kind of the, the, the poster child here for helping us, those who really have struggled, especially in Eastern Kentucky, but across the Commonwealth with substance use disorder.

>> So in the piece that you did, and this was written by you and Alex Acquisto, you know, years of reporting that you all did on this and you got to talk with former clients and employees of addiction recovery care, also known as Arc, kind of the abbreviation there.

And so what you all found out, it seemed that there was hundreds of millions of dollars billed to Medicaid, and some folks said that there was some false billing.

So tell me about that.

What was being billed and why is it believed that some of that was fraudulent?

>> Yeah.

So two of the primary codes that were being billed specifically as it relates to addiction recovery care or Arc are psychoeducation and peer support services.

And so I won't go into explicitly the breakdown of those, but those were the two primary codes that people were really honing in on.

And so with this dramatic increase of the ability to bill for certain codes after Covid happened, because there was a big focus on getting people into recovery, you know, the ability to build Medicaid so more folks could get treatment really expanded.

So there was this really good intention of like, let's get these folks help.

Some of these employees said that they were allegedly instructed to bill for services that essentially were not taking place to try and make up for services, maybe that they didn't have the opportunity to offer that day because they were so expansive and so big.

So that was just one example of what we were told was there was essentially allegedly this directive of, okay, make up for the lost time Bill for something that maybe didn't happen or Bill for something that maybe did happen, but say it happened for a longer period of time.

>> And the time that we have remaining.

I just want to know, where does this stand now?

Is Arc still in operation?

Is there any possibility or any thoughts that they might be held responsible for these allegations of fraudulent billing?

>> Yeah, so remains to be seen.

Arc is still in operation today and they are still actively billing Medicaid and Medicare, which makes up more than 80% of their clients.

So they are still operating on a much smaller basis.

As we've seen, there's been layoffs.

There's been closures of a lot of their facilities, but they do still remain operating.

And then finally, in terms of any kind of any kind of conclusion we may see, they have they are still being investigated by the FBI.

There is that draft unsigned settlement with the Department of Justice at the federal level, and then ongoing lawsuits regarding tax dollars that they believe they're still owed those parties.

So there's a lot of still moving pieces.

And unfortunately, yeah, there will be still more to to come.

I think in terms of what will happen next, not only, again, just with Arc, but how we establish oversight in the recovery industry while helping this vulnerable population.

>> Certainly.

Well, we will keep following.

And if you keep reporting, which I'm sure you will, maybe we'll have you again to discuss further updates.

Taylor six with the Herald leader.

Thank you so much for breaking this down for us.

And folks can check out your full report at the Herald-Leader website, right?

>> Yes.

That's correct.

Thank you so much.

>> Thank you.

>> Now to Kentucky's 2026 primary election.

Andy Barr outraised his two main Republican opponents in the U.S.

Senate race during the first quarter of the year.

The candidates just filed financial disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission, and the numbers show Barr has more money on hand as the campaign enters its final month.

Barr has about $4.1 million in cash.

Daniel Cameron has about $765,000 in cash, and Nate Morris has 581,000.

The primary is May 19th.

Well, turning to Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump's budget director is telling Congress that it will take a massive upfront investment to ramp up U.S.

weapons production and build more ships, planes and drones.

Russell Vogt appeared before the House Budget Committee yesterday.

His testimony jump starts the White House's effort to increase defense spending while also cutting health research, heating assistance and scores of other domestic programs by about 10% overall.

Congressman Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky was among the Democratic lawmakers to say that asking for more than 40% increase in defense while cutting other programs shows that the administration's priorities are out of sorts.

>> But it's not just energy prices that are up.

Everything at the grocery store is more expensive.

Come to the Kroger on Bardstown Road with me in Louisville, Kentucky.

You'll see it for yourself and your Owen War is only going to make that worse because of the shocks to fertilizer and fuel costs.

A lot of our neighbors, they rely on a little bit of extra help, especially when they can't afford their groceries.

Look at the wildly successful nutrition program for women, infants and children known as Wick.

It helps pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women feed themselves and their kids when they need it most.

After Republicans enacted the deepest cuts in our country's history to food benefits and more and more families are struggling right now due to the president's policy.

Your budget cuts, breastfeeding moms, fruit and vegetable benefit from $54 to $13 a month.

Is that correct?

>> We fully fund the program.

>> No you don't.

Here it is right here on page 164 in the second column of your budget.

I'm talking right now.

If you want to talk, you can run for Congress on page 165.

In the first column.

It cuts it.

It cuts it from $54 to $13 a month.

And it looks like you're not stopping there.

You're coming for the roof over people's heads to look at HUD continuum of care program that keeps 950 Kentuckians in stable long term housing.

That includes 886 people with disabilities.

It includes 383 survivors of domestic domestic violence.

More than half of those housed in Kentucky right now are families with kids.

This budget zeroes out that program, doesn't it?

>> You know what's interesting about it?

>> Does I reclaim my time?

Reclaim my time, Mr.

Chairman.

Right now it does.

It's right here on table one.

Three zeros it out in your budget.

>> Vote said it was unclear how much the administration would seek to fund the war during the current budget year, which ends September 30th.

That money would be part of an emergency supplemental spending bill and would be on top of the funds.

The white House is seeking to boost defense spending next year.

Well, speaking of the war in Iran, the U.S.

Senate yesterday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump's war in Iran.

The Senate voted down a resolution that would have required the U.S.

to withdraw forces until Congress authorizes further action.

The vote was largely along party lines.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote for the measure.

This was the fourth time this year the Senate has voted to hand over its war powers to President Trump.

[MUSIC] We have the latest on London's mayor, plus another fight against the data center and praise for a Louisville park.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in this.

Look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> London's mayor, Randall Weddle, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he made illegal contributions to Governor Andy Beshear s reelection campaign in 2023, the Kentucky Lantern reports.

The charges are based on findings that some of Weddell's relatives, employees and business associates all gave the maximum amount allowed by law to the Beshear campaign, even though they had never given to political campaigns before.

The governor's campaign eventually refunded $202,000.

Weddell's lawyer wants the case moved from Laurel to Franklin County.

A change of venue hearing is set for July 15th.

[MUSIC] WKU Public Radio reports.

A second lawsuit over proposed data center in Simpson County.

The Franklin Planning and Zoning Commission approved a preliminary development plan in March.

A citizens group's lawsuit asks a judge to overturn that decision.

Ten key land Ko wants to build the data center on 200 acres of land near Interstate 65.

[MUSIC] Critics of the data center are concerned about noise and light pollution.

[MUSIC] Two big utilities want to join efforts to build a so-called water battery in Bell County.

W EKU radio says the Lewis Ridge project would use flowing water to power a 266 megawatt facility.

Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities want to join the RHI Corporation on the project, which would cost $1.3 billion and begin operations in 2031.

The project received an $81 million grant from the Biden administration in 2024.

Louisville's waterfront park is winning national praise.

The park just won a USA today ten Best Readers Choice Award, according to The Courier Journal.

The awards are for the parks with the best boardwalks, city parks, main streets, public playgrounds and recreational trails.

[MUSIC] The 85 acre waterfront park is known for a pedestrian bridge across the Ohio River.

It's playground, sprayground, walkways and picnic areas.

It's also the launch point for riverboat cruises on the Belle of Louisville.

[MUSIC] With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Sports fans.

You can be a part of the 2028 Olympic excitement without even flying to LA.

The 2028 gymnastics trials will be held in Louisville.

It's a first for Kentucky's Derby City Governor Andy Beshear was on hand for yesterday's announcement.

>> The gymnastics team that's going to represent us in Los Angeles will be selected in Kentucky.

I also love that hosting this event is going to make sure that Kentucky kids dream big.

They're going to see some of the most inspiring and talented athletes in the world right in their backyard.

I want to congratulate and thank all the local organizers who made this happen, and I encourage folks to get involved in volunteer opportunities around these games.

When else have Kentuckians had an opportunity to volunteer for the Olympics or the lead up to the Olympics?

>> It's exciting.

Well, Minneapolis hosted the 2024 gymnastics trials.

Governor Beshear says that prompted 200,000 tourists to visit the Twin Cities, and they generated $75 million in economic activity in Minnesota.

Well, with the General Assembly session ending, the.

A team will be here for some expert perspective.

Renee talks to Trey Grayson and Bob Babich in tomorrow's inside Kentucky politics segment.

Join us for that and the rest of the day's news.

Friday on Kentucky edition, and we hope that you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky edition, where we inform, connect and Inspire.

You can subscribe to our Kentucky edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at ket.org.

[MUSIC] Send us a story idea at PublicAffairs at ket.org and follow KET on social media to stay in the loop.

Well, that's all we have for tonight.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Have a great evening.